


Bandits

by SandyJacket



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Depictions of a Panic Attack, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, aka deidara and sasoris IM JUST A TEEN AND LIFE IS A NIGHTMARE, akatsuki banter is best banter, parents death, theres barely any konan n yahiko tbh, this is mostly just the akatsuki memeing around im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-30 04:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15744396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandyJacket/pseuds/SandyJacket
Summary: "I know how you can confess your love, Deidara!" Hidan grins and pulls out an acoustic guitar, "so anyways, Sasori, here's Wonderwall."The school club, Akatsuki, have traditionally done absolutely nothing for three years. So Deidara’s pretty confused when the club accidentally turns into an Odd Jobs business, and when the club is forced to become a band.Although, to Deidara, Sasori’s singing makes everything okay.





	1. Golden Glow

**Author's Note:**

> i personally hated my school days, and whenever i felt down, i liked to read akatsuki school fanfiction to cheer me up. i liked to imagine that they were the friendship group i never had and it really helped, and so this fic means a lot to me - it's my thank you to the akatsuki fandom for cheering me up. thank you and please enjoy!
> 
> this is the song the akatsuki play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHV0zs0kVGg  
> i chose it because ray charles appears in the movie, and i can see itachi looking up to him! ray charles was an amazing songwriter and musician, and he was also blind. i really recommend his work!

 “They’re late,” Deidara stated. He looked around the classroom, surveyed the table with its empty chairs and frowned. Black leather jackets, which were embroidered carefully with a red cloud, had been thrown lazily on the back of the vacant chairs. The lack of people and their loudness was almost unnerving to Deidara, or at least strange, considering there were usually complaints about the noise generated from the clubroom. Irritated – and craving any form of attention – he found himself talking to Itachi, the only other member of the Akatsuki who had shown up. “Why are we the only ones here?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.” Itachi admitted. “What’s the time?”

“It’s…” Deidara pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, “Ten minutes past three. So club activities started ten minutes ago, yeah?” Deidara waved his phone in the air. “Nobody bothered to text me to say why they’re late!”

“It has been only ten minutes.” Itachi pointed out. “Is something wrong, or has Sasori’s impatience rubbed off on you?”

“I’m not impatient, yeah! I’m just bored, there’s nothing to do.” Deidara grumbled as shoved his phone back in his pocket. Usually, he would preoccupy himself with his sculptures, but today he had left his modelling clay in the art classroom, an action he was currently regretting. The classroom was only a short walk away, but Deidara was unwilling to move from the chair, having decided that it was too hot to do anything but mope around.

Retrieving the clay would irritate him more, he had concluded, as it was little compared to the enticing explosions that he wished to make. The soft putty in his hands, the smooth texture of the material, and the dryness once the clay had settled, all of this would confirm one fact: that Deidara was unable to create his true vision of art.

He groaned. His trail of thoughts had worsened his mood, and the unbearable heat was adding to his misery.

“If you’re bored,” Itachi spoke, prompted by Deidara’s groan, “Why don’t you study?”

“Fuck off Uchiha.”

“Okay, okay, I thought it would be a good use of your time.” Itachi admitted in defeat, and Deidara stuck out his tongue on impulse, despite Itachi being blind. The damn Uchiha was too much of a goody two shoes, and Deidara wondered why he was in the Akatsuki, considering it was comprised of lazy rebels. “Then could you please shut the curtains for me? This room needs cooling down. Just let a little sunlight through, so the room isn’t too cold.”

“Fine.” Deidara muttered as he stood up and sauntered towards the window. He reached for the curtain, adjusted it so light still streamed through a small gap, and then his gaze landed on the city before him. “The view’s nice. It’s a perfect summer day.”

“It is?” Itachi asked. “What does it look like?”

“Well,” Deidara’s eyes danced over the view as he described it in awe, “The mountains are far into the distance, and the heat can be seen in the air. The sky is a light blue, and below the mountains, yeah, the city lies. It’s all the same grey, but the sun makes it shine. Past that, there’s the boring courtyard… but the greenery that surrounds it, and the sun and the skies, all make me think of summer.”

“Is that so?” Itachi replied. “Sounds wonderful.”

Deidara silently agreed as he returned to his chair, opting to sunbathe and rest whilst the room was still quiet. He closed his eyes as he let the warmth of the summer sun glide over his pale skin. “I’m going to nap now. Wake me up before Leader comes, or he’ll have my head, yeah?”

“Alright,” Itachi said. “I will.”

The room then fell silent, with Deidara attempting to sink into a deep sleep as Itachi silently read the Braille imprinted on his coursework. Immersing himself in the silence, Deidara fell into his thoughts; of art and brief moments, of the sky lit up with an array of bright, beautiful colours that left spectators yearning for more, and of appreciation and recognition. One day, and Deidara hoped that day’s arrival would be swift; the world would be joined in looking up at the sky and desiring his art. Deidara's pursuance and passion was fuelled by this dream, which he desperately sought to craft into reality.

“Sasori’s entering, Itachi.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Sasori.” Itachi smiled.

The exchange caused Deidara to open his eyes, and he glanced up to see Sasori, who was looking down upon him with his usual, uninterested expression.  

“Good afternoon, brat.” Sasori said.

“Ugh, I wanted to wake up to a hot babe.” Deidara muttered, and Sasori scowled. “Since you’re here, are the others on their way?”

“They’ll be here in a minute. Hidan’s taking too long to scream at the headmistress, and I got bored of waiting.” Sasori walked behind Deidara, pulled his jacket from his chair and shrugged it on as he sat. “I hate waiting.”

“Hidan is screaming at the headmistress?” Itachi repeated.

“Yes, about the school festival. You know how we all skipped it last year and bought alcohol with the funds?”

“I heard about that from Kisame.” Deidara grinned, “Wish I was a year older so I could’ve been there, yeah.”

“I almost forgot that you’re only a first year.” Sasori replied, and then grimaced. “I’m glad you and Hidan weren’t high schoolers last year. You would’ve enjoyed that alcohol too much.”

“That’s very true,” Itachi remarked. “Although I didn’t have any of the drink. Leader’s orders.”

 “Leader’s orders? What’s that about?” Deidara asked.

“Alcohol is forbidden for Itachi because he gets drunk after one shot.” Sasori explained.

“I have more self-control than that.” Itachi said.

“No you don’t. When we did buy the alcohol, Kisame secretly gave you some of his and minutes later, you were screaming the lyrics to ABBA.”

“I can’t remember drinking that, and I really didn’t know I was that bad of a drunk.”

“Well, you are. I probably still have footage of that, Kakuzu recorded it.” Sasori smirked. “Deidara, do you want to see Itachi drunk as fuck and singing Swedish pop songs?”

Deidara smiled. The colours of the room seemed brighter now Sasori had arrived; the gold of the sun’s rays and the brown of the oak table no longer merged into one, and Deidara discovered that he was captivated by how the light made the room glow.

It was as if Sasori’s presence caused colours to bloom.

He wondered why Sasori had that effect: Deidara assumed it was because he respected his fellow artist and enjoyed his company. They somehow clicked, and Deidara debated about art with him, as the talks were enjoyable and enlightening, and through those discussions, Deidara quickly learned that Sasori’s art was an insight into his guarded soul. Although Deidara had little interest for dolls and puppetry, seeing Sasori immersed in his art stirred up something within him, something that usually only appeared when he was expressing his love for explosions.

Unable to put a name to the feeling, Deidara simply shrugged it off.

“Deidara?” Sasori watched Deidara, before he sighed and took out his phone. “Itachi, he didn’t respond to my question and he’s just staring at the table.”

“Perhaps something is wrong? He was bored and tired earlier.” Itachi offered.

 “Hm. He wouldn’t usually pass up on a chance to see you embarrassing yourself, so something must be wrong. Deidara?”

“Something wrong, yeah?” Deidara said dreamily to the table. The gold of the sun was glorious, and reminded him of his brief, beloved art.

 “That’s not me you’re speaking to, I’m not made out of wood, even if you do like to call me Pinocchio.” Sasori scrolled through his phone, “You don’t usually spend your free time staring at wood. You look upset. Is something wrong?” He paused for a second and then raised his voice. “Deidara!”

Deidara was thrown back into reality, and all he could see were the patterns inscribed on the table. Suddenly realising that he had been staring at a piece of furniture, he slowly twisted his upper body so he faced Sasori. “Yeah?”

Sasori turned and stared at Deidara, and Deidara held the gaze, unable to tear his eyes away.

“So?” Sasori asked after a minute.

“What?” Deidara gulped; surprised that Sasori had waited so long to speak.

“I said that you look upset, and I asked you a question. Is something wrong?”

“Oh,” Deidara blinked. He was repeatedly getting lost in his own thoughts today, perhaps it was the heat getting to his head? “No, not really, I was just thinking about something. It’s nothing, yeah.”

He wasn’t sure why he had zoned out like that, for him to do so was rare, but whenever Sasori was around, Deidara felt a sea of calm wash over him. There was something about Sasori that was therapeutic, something about the colour of his eyes and the deep red of his hair, and Deidara found himself relaxing at the sight of Sasori’s smile.

“Hm.” Sasori returned to scrolling through his phone. “If that’s all, I won’t press you any further.”

“Thank you,” Deidara said, grateful for Sasori’s concern and consideration. He knew that those unfamiliar with Sasori would think of him as unfriendly and unkind, but he also knew that despite his cold personality, Sasori was thoughtful, and that he kept his distance when needed. Too much fuss was sometimes overwhelming for Deidara, and so he was thankful for Sasori’s quiet support. “You know, if I look upset then you should cheer me up, yeah!”

“Was that an order, Leader?” Sasori sarcastically replied.

“You made me wait for you to arrive, and you hate making others wait. So, by your own life principles, you have to give me some compensation, yeah.” Deidara declared, knowing that Sasori was too prideful to not rise to the bait. Sasori scoffed in response.

“I have never stated I had to give compensation.”

“Aww, come on,” Deidara insisted. “A little something to cheer me up!”

“You don’t look like you need cheering up. However,” Sasori paused as he carefully chose his next words, "I hope your sadness is as fleeting as your art."

Ah, Sasori.

“So, you admit my work is art!” Deidara smirked as he tried to calm his racing heart. “Thanks, Sasori!”

That wasn't fair at all.

“No. I was just trying to cheer you up, like you said, brat.” Sasori objected. “Why’re you getting so flustered when you asked me to say that?”

“Because you said the word art!” Deidara countered and pointed at Sasori accusingly, as he had a habit of dodging the word as often as he could. “I finally got you to admit that my work is art, yeah.”

“It was a slip of the tongue.”

“I think what’s more surprising is that he attempted to cheer you up, Deidara.” Itachi chimed in.

 “I didn’t want to look at his miserable face. It was an eyesore.”

“That’s an excuse.” Deidara said. “I even told you I wasn’t upset. You were just worried, yeah!”

“Tch.” Sasori reached towards his bag which he had placed on the table, “Perhaps I was. I’m not heartless, and you were clearly troubled by something.”

“I was just lost in my thoughts, and I know you’re not heartless! Maybe.” Deidara teased.

“I’m not heartless. Why, I’ve been supporting you,” he stopped and then smirked, “My junior.”

“Junior?!” Deidara repeated. “You act like my superior, when I’m only a year younger than you!”

“That still makes you, by definition, my junior. Brat.”

“You added that brat to rub it in my face. You’re definitely rubbing it in my face.”

“In any case,” Itachi chuckled to himself. “I think you successfully cheered Deidara up, Sasori.”

“I’ve done my duty.” Sasori retrieved his sketchbook from his bag, which Deidara easily recognised. “Now Leader can’t complain.”

“You had ulterior motives for cheering your best friend up?! Too cruel, yeah.” Deidara laughed anyway, as the conversation had washed away his worries.

“You asked me to cheer you up.”

“I shouldn’t have to ask.”

“I would’ve done something even if you hadn’t asked.” Sasori opened his sketchbook and took a pencil out of his pocket, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to sketch out my newest pup-”

“All the Akatsuki are entering, Itachi!” Hidan shouted as he slammed the door open, causing a loud bang to resonate throughout the room. “Except for Deidara because he wasn’t there and Sasori because he had a hissy fit and ran off- Oh, the artists are here.” Hidan turned to call to the people behind him, “Van Gogh and DiCaprio are here!”

“And nevermind.” Sasori closed his book and Deidara snickered.

“DiCaprio? Did you mean Da Vinci, yeah?”

Hidan shrugged.

“I do appreciate you letting me know who is coming in so I’m not surprised when someone starts talking however… that doesn’t really work when you slam the door open.” Itachi said. “Anyway, welcome. What happened with the headmistress?”

“It’s bullshit!” Hidan’s voice became even louder. “Fucking bullshit! Damn that Tsunade!”

The rest of the Akatsuki filed into the room silently as Hidan continued his monologue of complaints and curses. He watched the other members take their seats, and then trudged to his own, his fingers tapping the oak table impatiently as he grumbled to himself. Sasori and Deidara exchanged a look of despair **,** the Akatsuki being quiet was never good news, and once everyone had settled, Pein spoke.

“We’re being forced to participate in this year’s festival.”

Deidara groaned loudly, threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. That meant less time to work on his sculptures.

“Well, I suspected something like this would happen, considering our actions last year.” Itachi admitted.

“It’s a shame, I was wondering which ABBA song you’d choose this year, Itachi.” Kisame said, and Itachi chuckled in return.

“What do you mean by forced, yeah?” Deidara asked.

“We will be expelled if we don’t turn up.” Pein replied. “Konan and I can’t risk being expelled because, as third years, we are currently applying for universities. I won’t allow any of you to have a black mark on your records, so we will all be participating.”

“For not attending a festival?! Isn’t that a bit harsh, yeah?” Deidara cried out.

“It’s not that surprising, considering we did steal and get away with it last year. None of us were old enough to buy alcohol last year either. This is our punishment.” Itachi hypothesized.

“I wondered why the teachers did nothing last year. So this is what they were planning.” Kakuzu said as he folded his arms. “Jiraiya most likely stopped Tsunade from giving us a worse punishment.”

“This is barely a punishment, as all students have to participate in the festival anyway. This is a warning that we shouldn’t repeat our actions.” Itachi said. “I don’t know how Jiraiya convinced Tsunade to not punish us further, but I’m grateful.”

“Having your Dad as a teacher truly has helped out the Akatsuki, Leader!” Tobi stood up and saluted.

Pein cleared his throat. “Agreed. Now that we’ve explained that, we must come to a decision. We can either run a stall, run a cafe or put on a performance. Let’s hear your ideas.”

“An art stall!” Deidara chimed in. This was the perfect opportunity to present his art to the masses, and his mind was filled with images of students adoring his sculptures. “Clay sculptures!”

“Puppets.” Sasori interjected.

Deidara shook his head. “I respect your art style, but I’d rather do sculptures, yeah.”

“Hm. I wouldn’t want to make anything other than puppets. An artist becomes disheartened if they aren’t creating with their best art form.”

“I agree,” Deidara nodded as he spoke. “However, we can’t put your puppets on display.” He smirked, “You’ll scare someone!”

Sasori could not help but respond to Deidara’s obvious taunting, “My puppets are not frightening at all.”

“They look like you’ve made them out of humans, yeah.”

Kakuzu reached down from underneath the table, pulled out a large jar, placed it on the table in front of the duo, and unscrewed it whilst speaking. “Put a coin in.”

“I forgot about that thing!” Deidara stared at the jar, as if he could break it with his mind.

“What’s been placed on the table?” Itachi asked.

“The art jar.” Kisame chuckled. “The one that Deidara and Sasori have to put a coin in every time they start talking about art. It’s already half full.”

“How long have we had that again?” Zetsu asked.

“Two days.” Kakuzu grimaced.

“They’re not made out of humans.” Sasori spat as he dropped a coin into the jar.

“Really?” Deidara sarcastically asked.

“Well, of course.” Sasori shrugged. “That would be against the law.”

“Please tell me that’s not the only thing stopping you from making human puppets.”

“Perhaps we could do a stall that shows off various art skills? Wood crafts, clay moulding, paper folding?” Konan suggested.

“Everyone must be involved.” Pein rubbed his temples with his hands. “Only three of us would be interested in that. Now that I think about it, ten is far too many to run a stall, so I’m dismissing that idea.”

Deidara sunk in his chair and sighed loudly. There goes that idea.

“Maybe something about sewing?” Kisame reached behind his back and pulled his leather jacket into view. “These are very well made, and they’re the whole reason why people recognise us on the school grounds.”

“As the person who made them,” Kakuzu said. “No. I don’t trust half of you with a needle.”

“I believe a band is the best idea.” Zetsu stated. “Sasori plays the bass, Itachi plays the trumpet, Hidan plays the drums, Konan plays the keyboard and Deidara sings, and Kakuzu plays the guitar. Everybody not playing an instrument can work on the admin, the lightning and the stage. All we’ll need to do is play one song, and then we can leave.”

Murmurs of agreement were heard from around the table.

“I… I forgot that you know everything about everybody… Scary!” Tobi put his head on the table, his arms over his head, and pretended to cower in fear. Zetsu rolled his eyes.

Hidan picked up a pencil from the table and started to tap the edge of the wood. “It works! Let’s fucking do it!”

“You just want to make as much noise as possible, yeah!” Deidara yelled.

“Are there any objections?” Pein asked as he scanned the faces in the room.

The room fell silent, except from Hidan tapping on the table.

“That confirms it. We have a couple of weeks to prepare. I’ll let Tsunade know of our decision, and pray that she doesn’t object.”

“We have plans to stay at mine tonight.” Sasori added. “If you bring your instruments to mine, we can practice then.” He pulled out his phone once again. “I’ll let my Grandma know. Not that she minds the noise anyway.”

Deidara beamed. The idea of a band had suddenly appealed to him, and the thought of spending hours with the group planning and practicing was suddenly perfect. Perhaps that’s what he truly desired, not recognition but company, and the laughter and inside jokes that grew from a friendship circle. Music was an art form too, and art created with company was always the most magnificent.

“But what do we name our band?” Hidan asked.

“I think that’s fairly easy.” Itachi replied. “We’re a group of rebels being forced to create a band. We’re The Bandits.”

“The Bandits…” Pein paused, and then chuckled. “I like that. The Bandits it is.”

 

\---

 

The living room of Sasori’s home had been prepared for the arrival of the Akatsuki. A thin, sand coloured blanket had been laid down on the floor where the group sat – the dining table only seated 5 – and bowls of curry had been placed down, alongside cutlery and canned drinks. The instruments, as well as Sasori’s medical books and other assorted household items, had been stacked neatly against the back wall. For the second time that day, a room Deidara was in was golden: the colours of the sunset seeped into the room, reflecting off the framed quotes and photos that hung on the walls.

“Hey, you know, we didn’t even decide on which song we’re gonna play.” Hidan said as he shoved a spoonful of curry into his mouth. “Let’s do that type of blood-thirsty death metal!”

“Let’s not.” Kakuzu replied.

“Ah, I thought about this earlier on. I have a suggestion for a genre.” Itachi spoke. “Kisame, would you…?”

“Sure, sure.” Kisame, on cue, stood up and walked over to retrieve Itachi’s trumpet case from the back of the room. He gently placed it next Itachi, opened the case, and placed the instrument in Itachi’s outstretched hands.

“Thank you. Now…” Itachi positioned the trumpet in front of his mouth, took a deep breath, and began to play. The room was filled with the lively tune, and the clear notes cut through the air.

“Hey, that’s jazz, right?” Deidara excitedly asked. “What a great tune!”

Itachi finished playing and set the instrument down on his lap. “It’s short, lively, and doable with all our available instruments. I’m also a big fan of this genre, especially of Ray Charles.”

“That would mostly work,” Zetsu confirmed. “Except that particular song’s a duet.”

“I’m not singing both parts on stage!” Deidara complained. “That’s embarrassing, yeah.”                                                                        

“Deidara, you’re the only singer?” Sasori’s grandmother, a frail-looking lady who was surprisingly full of energy, walked into the room. She was grandmotherly in every sense of the word; generous, kind, and she always provided a safe place for any Akatsuki member, whenever it was needed. Deidara had been Chiyo’s guest numerous times, and she never complained, instead treating each and every guest as if they were blood related.

The Akatsuki were immensely grateful for her continuous hospitality.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“But my adorable Sasori sings too!”

Sasori swore.

“Oh?” Deidara leant closer to Sasori whilst smirking. “He does, does he?”

“Yes.” Sasori sighed. “I do.”

The thought of spending hours together with Sasori filled Deidara’s mind, and he realised that the duet would be their first art collaboration together. He swallowed in anticipation, and he was taken aback by his desire to hear Sasori’s singing voice.

Deidara shook his head, as if the action would make his thoughts disappear. He was confused by his newfound curiosity, and why it always seemed to involve Sasori.

“If you’re uncomfortable with it, we won’t force you.” Konan said.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll sing. I never said that I sing because Deidara was already designated as the vocalist. Also, I wasn’t swearing at the idea of singing. I was swearing at Grandma calling me adorable.”

“But you are!” Chiyo and Deidara replied in unison.

“I will poison you.”

Hidan dropped his spoon into his now empty bowl and spoke. “Now we’ve chosen our song, let’s get started!”

“Yeah!” Deidara agreed as he jumped to his feet. The prospect of singing with Sasori was all he motivation he needed. “Sasori! You need your bass guitar!”

“Yeah, I’ll go get it.” Sasori stood up.

“Sasori…” Chiyo started.

“Yes?”

“Is that the bass guitar we left in our old house?”

Sasori swore again.

Hidan burst into loud laughter, “You did what?!”

“No,” Sasori sharply turned on his heel. “We packed it, right? Isn’t it in the attic with the other things from our move?”

“I remember donating it, because you specifically told me you didn’t want it anymore.” She recalled.

“Do we need a bass guitar?” Deidara asked. “Sasori’s already singing.”

“We don’t need one, but it would be preferable if we had one. The song wouldn’t sound the same.” Itachi said.

“I’m getting one.” Sasori scowled. “When you make art, you make it properly.”

“You don’t have a job and the funds we have aren't enough either.” Kakuzu pointed out.

“I’ll get the mone-” Sasori was interrupted by the sound of the front doorbell, which rang throughout the room. He exchanged a confused glance with his grandmother, before he scowled and sulked towards the front door.

“So moody!” Chiyo cackled. “I don’t know where he gets that from! His parents were never like that.”

“Thank you for cooking for us.” Itachi took the opportunity to give a polite remark. “It’s delicious, as always.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Chiyo waved his polite remark off. “I’ve always believed that food is to be eaten with friends and family. I know Sasori prefers the company, too. He’s been lonely since his parents’ death.” She bent down to pick up the books stacked on the floor, ones of herbal medicines and toxins, and her voice became softer. “Knowing him, he hasn’t said it, but he’s been studying hard lately to be accepted into medical school. He never used to study. The simple joy you all have given him with your friendship has meant so much to him.”

“We are truly glad.” Konan stated the sentiments that were felt by all the Akatsuki, and then the room fell silent. The group were conscious of the tragedy which had hit Sasori’s family, as it was evident in his everyday behaviour, from the flashes of sadness and sorrow which sometimes appeared across his fair face, to his sworn loyalty towards those who refused to leave him. The incident had undoubtedly shaped Sasori, as Chiyo sometimes spoke of a gentle and generous young man, who saw beauty in every aspect of the world, and although this behaviour was still evident within Sasori, it was masked by heartbreak.

“Hey,” Sasori walked into the doorway, his words breaking the tension that hung in the room. “Which one of you has a pink haired girlfriend?”

“Can it be me?” Hidan called back.

“No. And make some room, we’ve got another guest.”

“Itachi?” A teenage girl walked into view from behind Sasori, and she nervously scanned over the living room as she fiddled with the hem of her blouse. She seemed to be full of both determination and sadness, and she nodded at Sasori before taking another tentative step into the room.

“That voice… Sakura?” Itachi asked.

“Ah, yes, sorry I… I forgot to say.” Sakura replied, her voice laced with nervousness.

Deidara couldn’t blame her; to an outsider, the Akatsuki were a group of dangerous, heartless criminals, despite the fact they hadn’t done anything to deserve that image. It was probably the leather jackets.

“That tone of voice… is something wrong?”

“It’s…” She took a deep breath, pushed back her shoulders and raised her voice. “It’s your brother, Itachi! He’s in trouble, and I need your help.”

 

 


	2. Dandelion Dreams

“In trouble?” A deep frown appeared on Itachi’s face. “Here, Sakura, sit down.”

“I thought discussing this in private would be better…” Sakura said, but she followed Itachi’s advice anyway, carefully stepping over the bowls and cans that had been scattered across the floor. She took her place by Itachi’s side, and as she sat on her knees and placed her hands on her lap, it was evident that she wasn’t able to relax at all. Deidara felt a tinge of sympathy for her.

 “There’s nobody here that I don’t trust.” Itachi stated with certainty. “Perhaps they could help, too. Now, before we start panicking, is Sasuke in immediate danger?”

“No.” Sakura shook her head.

“If we sit here and talk about this for, say, an hour, will something dreadful happen to my brother?”

“No. It’s going to happen in, I think, three days.”

“Then try to relax,” Itachi replied. “This is something that hasn’t happened yet, so we can take actions to stop it from happening.”

“You’re right…” Sakura slowly dropped her shoulders and let out a shaking sigh. “Thank you, Itachi.”

“Sakura, I’ll get you some tea.” Chiyo said. “Make yourself at home.” She walked towards the kitchen, and Sakura smiled in return.

“I’m curious as to how you knew where my house is, and how you knew Itachi would be here.” Sasori was still stood in the doorway, his arms crossed firmly over his chest, and his words had a bite to them, as if he was accusing Sakura.

Deidara inwardly laughed. Sasori was sulking over leaving his bass guitar at his old house.

“Your grandmother works at the hospital where my parents work. That’s how I know where you live, as I’ve borrowed some herbal medicine books off Chiyo before.” Sakura explained, and then she faced Tobi. “As for where Itachi was… I asked Obito over Facebook!”

Tobi gave Sakura a thumbs up.

“Tobi! Don’t invite strangers into my house!”

“Stranger?!” Sakura shuffled on her knees to stare Sasori in the eye. “We’re in the same medical science class, Sasori!”

Deidara and Hidan simultaneously burst into fits of laughter, whilst huffs of amusement were heard from the quieter the Akatsuki members, and Sasori was stunned.

“I…” Sasori spluttered as he attempted to maintain his pride. “Then how did you know Tobi? Also, you’re Deidara’s age, so why are you in a second year’s class?” He spat, and Sakura giggled at his futile attempt to win the feud.

“I got moved up a year due to academic excellence!” She proudly proclaimed. “And Obito and I have been talking for a while over Facebook, because there’s this girl in our class he really li-“

Tobi suddenly jumped to his feet. “This curry is really good, isn’t it guys? Really good! Super cool! How does Grandma Chiyo do it?!”

“Is that your way of stopping me from saying anything?”

“Yup!” Tobi saluted.

“Alright, alright, I won’t say.” Sakura quietly laughed, and it seemed as if her initial anxieties were slowly drifting away. “Now do you trust me, Sasori?”

“Hm.” Sasori grunted, and then walked across his living room and sat down next to Deidara. He was greeted by a grin from the artist, which he immediately glared at.

 “Tobi, sit down.” Zetsu hissed. Tobi complied, and his face had turned an amusing shade of pink.

Deidara realised that he’d never seen Tobi embarrassed before, and he wondered why he was so flustered, but he would have to ask the student about it later. There were more important topics to discuss, such as; what was going to happen to the younger Uchiha? And why was Itachi, the doting older brother, unware of the situation that Sasuke was in?

Not that he particularly cared, he was apathetic towards the student whom he saw as arrogant and pretentious, but he did wonder what had made Sakura so upset. It was enough to shake her up visibly.

“You feeling alright, yeah?” Deidara blurted out into the silent room.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Thank you.” Sakura weakly replied, clearly surprised by Deidara’s concern.

He decided to not press the matter any further.

Chiyo slowly walked back into the room, and she placed a mug of piping hot tea in front of Sakura and collected the bowls off the floor before returning to the kitchen. Sakura thanked her as she left, picked up the tea and took a cautious sip.

“Now you’ve calmed down a little, shall we talk?” Itachi said, and Sakura shuffled on her knees to be facing him once again.

Sakura nodded, lowered her head and stared at the tea that she held between her palms. She nervously brushed her thumb over the rim of the mug, and she stayed silent for a few moments, as if she was trying to gather the right words to adequately describe her desperation. Eventually, she spoke, and her voice was so soft that the others strained to hear.

“Sasori,” she said, “Do you remember that old teacher, called Orochimaru? This ties into that incident.”

Sasori’s face immediately warped an expression of disgust, and he bit his lip in order to stop himself from lashing out about the teacher.

“Yes.” He replied sternly, and he almost snarled out the words. “I remember him well.”

“Huh?” Hidan looked to Sakura, and then to Sasori, and then back to Sakura again. “Orochimaru? Who’s that and what’s the beef?”

“I’m curious too! It’s a surprise to see you so annoyed, yeah.” Deidara pointed out. Sasori put his head in his hands.

“It’s because today is just a headache.” He complained.

“What I’ve been told is that Orochimaru left the school last year, after allegations arose that he was stealing supplies that we used in our medical science class.” Sakura explained.

“Yes, that’s most of what happened.” Sasori nodded. “Although, you missed out the part where he blamed it all on me and I nearly got a damn criminal record for it.”

“A criminal record?”

“He pinned the thefts on me.”

“What a coward, doing that to a pupil!” Sakura cracked her knuckles. “He’s going to get what’s coming to him!”

Deidara was shocked by Sakura’s sudden character change. Was this really the same girl who, five minutes ago, was too apprehensive to look anyone in the eye?

 “I’ll explain fully what happened.” Sasori addressed not only Sakura, but Deidara and Hidan too, “Every club has to have an assigned teacher that looks after them, amongst other duties. Last year, ours was Orochimaru. I talked to him often as we shared the same ideals – that immortality is perfection. Through this, he learnt of my interest in puppetry, as well as poisons. However, supplies from the school started to go missing, and I linked things that Orochimaru had said to me before to the petty thefts.”

“What did he say?” Deidara interrupted.

“He wanted to create a perfect, immortal human being, and he wanted to do experiments to create said being.”

“What a creep.”

“I know. I, admittedly, did not take him very seriously before the thefts.” Sasori agreed. “Of course, you need materials to carry out experiments, so I grew suspicious. I began my own investigation by speaking to Kabuto. He’s a student, in my year, who had spoken to me frequently. I regarded him as a friend. However, it turned out that Orochimaru is his adoptive father, so the rat snitched on me.”

“The rat? Salty, yeah?” Deidara teased.

“Piss off.” The faintest hint of amusement creeped into Sasori’s voice. “I believe Orochimaru was already planning on blaming me, however the incident with Kabuto probably accelerated this. My image around the school was negative because I’m a member of the Akatsuki, and I’m known for my interest in poisons. It looked like I was stealing the materials for my poisons… so I was arrested, interviewed and treated as a suspect, and I assume Orochimaru told the police about me. Remember, he already knew of my interests, as we had spoken beforehand. However, my Grandma yelled at Tsunade… so much that Tsunade allowed the others here to set up a trap for Orochimaru. They caught him in the act, and sent a recording of it to the police. He ran off with Kabuto later, although the police never found him. I assume he ran as his name was disgraced, and this is a small town where everyone knows each other. After that, my name was cleared and Jiraiya became our new assigned teacher.”

Sakura surveyed the smug faces in the room. “You guys did that?”

“He was innocent, and he’s our friend.” Pein replied. “It was relatively easy, anyway. We all have different skills that we combine to achieve our goals.”

“That’s so cool!” Deidara’s eyes lit up.

“So, how does that relate to Sasuke?” Sasori asked.

“Right.” Sakura said. “Sasuke usually hangs around Naruto and me during our breaks and after school, but lately he’s been acting very secretive and refusing to meet up. We started to get worried. Then I saw him talking to a girl in the second year called Karin.”

“Karin…” Sasori scrunched his eyebrows together and frowned. “I recognise that name.”

“She was a friend of Orochimaru’s, so we got worried. I told Naruto about it, and he told our friendship circle. Then Neji – he’s a second year too –asked around a little, and I asked my friends to help. We concluded that Karin, as well as two other guys, enlisted Sasuke to help Orochimaru grave rob.”

“Grave rob?!”  Hidan cried out. “What the fuck?!”

Sasori grimaced. “He’s dragging another innocent into his mess… and now he’s desecrating the dead.”

“I don’t know why Sasuke was chosen, or why he agreed. It doesn’t seem like Sasuke at all….” She turned to speak to Itachi. “Itachi, he could get thrown in jail for such a crime, and I don’t want to see Sasuke throwing his life away. Naruto and I will do everything to help but please… please help us stop him. He’s a close friend who has so much potential, but if Orochimaru does this, then Sasuke could be an accessory to a serious crime!”

The room, for the second time that evening, fell silent as its occupants contemplated the story that they’d just heard. Itachi was the one to break the silence, and the others remained deep in thought as he spoke.

"I knew he was having private lessons from a tutor... perhaps Orochimaru offered to teach him so he could enlist him?"

Sakura frowned. "That seems like a farfetched way of getting someone to help you grave rob."

"Us Uchihas are from an influential family and we run the police in this small town. I assume he's trying to get Sasuke on his good side so the police leave him alone."

"Itachi's Daddy is the chief of police!" Toni chimed in.

"And why would Sasuke agree?" Sakura asked. 

"I do have better grades than him and Orochimaru was a teacher..." Itachi trailed off. "He's always felt insecure about his abilities. But I'm sure us Akatsuki can fix this."

“We should somehow catch Orochimaru in the act again. We need to scare him off once and for all. We must record it too, to send to the police.” Zetsu stated. "But if we tell Sasuke then Orochimaru will change his plans and we won't know where he'll strike."

"Ah, a good old stakeout." Kisame chuckled. "We could hide in the graveyard and record Orochimaru doing what he's doing. Keep Sasuke out the shot and we got ourselves some good evidence."

"I don't think Sasuke will be doing much in the graveyard anyway. It's more about his connections to the police." Itachi said.

“We should take precautions in case we get arrested for trespassing. That would come with a large fine.” Kakuzu said.

“But before that, we need to find out if Karin and those other students are being forced into helping Orochimaru. I’m not letting innocent people have a record like I nearly was.” Sasori stressed.

“Itachi, does that all sound okay with you?” Konan asked.

“Yes.” Itachi nodded. “That all sounds perfectly acceptable.”

Sakura looked around the room once again. “You’re all going to help?”

“Of course. Itachi is our comrade.” Kisame said.

“Thank you!” She paused, smiled and then added: “You’re all like heroes for hire.”

 “Heroes for hire…” Kakuzu muttered. “Not a bad idea.”

 “Right. This is how we’ll do it.” Pein stood up and gave out instructions, like a king addressing his men, “Sasori, if you have any large pieces of paper, get them and lay them out on the floor. If anyone has any pens, we need them. Hidan, does your father still own that van?”

“Yeah, you can borrow that easily!” Hidan replied. “But when are we gonna practice our song?”

“That can wait. The Akatsuki has a job to do.”

\---

“What’s the inspiration for that, yeah?” Deidara said as he sat down next to Sasori, whilst he placed his lunch on the canteen table.

“No inspiration. It just came to me.” Sasori muttered as he continued to add detail to the puppet design in his sketchbook. It was an intricate drawing, and the puppet’s pattern was reminiscent of a network of arteries and veins. A rose blossomed where the heart would normally be, and Deidara was entranced by the delicate design.

“That’s a damn good drawing of the human body, yeah. Orochimaru should’ve enlisted you instead.”

Sasori snorted. “I would’ve made him into a human puppet, law or no law.”

“We could’ve hung him up in our clubroom as our mascot.”

“That would scare off any more potential Akatsuki members…” Sasori pointed his pencil at Deidara as the idea came to him. “Like a scarecrow.”

“Then we can hang it outside the graveyard to stop Orochimaru’s minions from following in his footsteps, yeah!”

“Let’s scrap Leader’s idea and do this instead.”

“Good idea.” Deidara shoved his fork into his pasta and waved it unconsciously as he spoke. “You know, I didn’t know you could get arrested for doing something as weird as grave robbing. Actually, scrap that, I can’t believe they are actually going to grave rob. The whole thing is ridiculous, yeah.”

“Hm. It’s a silly thing to get a criminal record over, especially when a record can stop you from doing many things in life.” Sasori grimaced. “I’m glad I didn’t get one. It might’ve stopped me from getting into college.”

“Wait, could a record stop me from getting into an art college?”

“Possibly.” Sasori shrugged. “I don’t know. I assume it depends on the crime.”

“I’ve illegally downloaded so many movies, yeah.” Deidara put the fork in his mouth and chewed on the pasta.

“Google it. Maybe they’ll only arrest you if the movies are bad.” Sasori jeered.

“The last movie I downloaded was… Fight Club.”                                          

“Well, that’s a good movie, but they’ll have to arrest you for breaking the first rule.”

“Damn it. I’ll cover it up with, I dunno, Dirty Harry.”

Sasori looked up, “You like westerns?”

“Yeah,” Deidara said, and then mimicked a cowboy’s voice, “You got a problem with that, punk?”

“Not at all. I just expected you to like something cheesier with more explosions in it instead.”

“You’re mostly right, I like all action movies, yeah.”

“Fair enough.” With that, the conversation eased out into a comfortable silence, and Sasori’s attention turned to his artwork once again. He frowned at the drawing before him, it apparently had a glaring fault, and then picked up the pencil and continued to silently add to it. His frustration was clear, as it showed in both his expression and his body language, and Deidara could relate.

He knew that to Sasori, the drawing didn’t look right. To him, it had a thousand flaws, each one more insulting than the last, and it was if they were mocking his artistic abilities. Sasori’s eyes remained focused on them, and they glared and spat insults. To an untrained eye, it seemed as if he was adding to the drawing at random, however, Deidara knew that creating a masterpiece was similar to completing a puzzle; the pieces needed to be carefully added with great consideration.

“Hey, Sasori?”

“What is it?”

“If nobody appreciates your art, then what will you do? Would you give up?”

Sasori snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. Where did this come from? You’re never unmotivated.”

“No, I’m not! I’m just curious about your viewpoint, yeah.”

“I don’t create art for people to stare at it. If they want to, then that’s fine. But for me, personally, my art is my mark on this Earth.” He put down his pencil, picked up the sketchbook and held it up for Deidara to see. “I will never be immortal, but my soul can be. This is evidence that I existed, and that I walked this Earth.”

Deidara smiled. He had thought that understanding Sasori’s motivations and mindset would aid him in understanding the new deep-rooted desire he felt when interacting with his peer, however Deidara felt himself drowning in warmth at Sasori’s resolve. Although their opinions on art was drastically different, Deidara was brimming with admiration.

“Keep at it, yeah.” Deidara nodded.

“Hm. Like I needed you to tell me that.” Sasori placed his textbook on the table. “Thanks, though.” He muttered to the textbook, apparently distracted by his mind. Deidara nodded again, and began to pick at his pasta, humming contently at his surroundings. The summer sun seeping through the canteen’s windows, and the animated chatter of the students surrounding him, created a luminous atmosphere which Deidara thoroughly enjoyed. He looked over Sasori, who was deep in concentration, and felt a burst of happiness from ever meeting the artist.

Sasori’s company made summer feel all that more heartwarming.

“Hey Sasori, Deidara, can I sit here?”

A piece of pasta flew from Deidara’s mouth as he was abruptly removed from his thoughts by the sound of Sakura’s voice.

“Oh my God, yes but, you made me jump, yeah!” Deidara exhaled.

“I noticed.” Sasori said as he used his pencil to remove the pasta from his hair.

“Sorry.” Deidara smirked.

“You are not sorry at all.” Sasori retorted.

Sakura laughed as she sat beside Deidara, placing her heavy textbooks on the table, “You two are a pair of comedians!”

“You seem to be a lot happier, yeah. Thought you’d be a bit nervous, considering we’re gonna be catching Orochimaru tonight.” Deidara observed.

“Hearing what you did for Sasori instils me with a lot of confidence! Besides,” Sakura gave her textbooks a hearty slap, “I have my studies to work on, can’t lose my motivation now.”

“So, why’re you here today, Pinky?” Sasori used his fingers to slowly spin his pencil. “Not to hang out with the notorious Akatsuki, are you?”

“You can try to use a semi-insulting nickname to cover up the fact you didn’t notice me in your class for months if you want, Sasori.” Sakura responded with a sinister smile.

“Hm.” Sasori scowled and Deidara guffawed.

“If you really must know, I can’t get a hold of Obito, and I happened to see you two here. I just wanted to confirm that Orochimaru's friends are working because they want to, it doesn't seem like they're being forced."

"Thank you."

"And I thought I’d discuss the payment?”

“The payment?” Sasori and Deidara repeated in confusion.

“Yeah, for helping Sasuke out, I think I can give you every member $100, is that okay?”

“$100?!” The artists repeated again.

“Well, it’s a job, right! You’re dealing with someone who is potentially dangerous, and my parents are famous doctors who are pretty well off. Oh, Naruto’s parents too! His Dad is the mayor, did you know that? We both really want to reward you for your efforts.”

“I could possibly buy a bass guitar with that…” Sasori speculated.

“We accept!” Deidara swiftly responded as he realised the offer would solve Sasori’s problem.

“Excellent! Can you let the others know when you guys meet up next?” Sakura stood up and picked up her books. “I need to hand these books in before lunch break ends, so I’ll get going. Thanks once again!” With that Sakura walked away, leaving the artistic duo staring dumbfoundedly at her back.

“$100…” Deidara gaped.

“Well, that’s a bit of motivation for tonight.” Sasori said.

“Yeah!”

\---

There was something about summer nights. There was always an aura of anticipation in the air, and the cool breeze brought a temporary release to the previously felt heat. The orange glow of the sun setting on the horizon was a source of inspiration of Deidara, and it was as if the clear sky was beckoning him, enticing him to release his art into the night and against the canvas that was the sky.

The wind swept through the graveyard, but the thick fog remained still, hanging in the air as the Akatsuki slowly filtered in. Yet the moonlight made the graveyard glow: which contributed to the thick tension that remained. A solid, proud oak tree was the masterpiece of the graveyard, standing silently in the centre, and small, well-kept bushes and trees were dotted across the graveyard, providing some much-needed greenery. The graves themselves contrasted greatly against the fauna; the inscriptions were faded, and the tombstones had clearly faced the worst of what the weather could muster. Rose bushes outlined the ground – apart from the entrance where a grand gate stood – confining the graveyard to a small plot of land.

Red roses for love. White roses for innocence. Sasori, with his extensive knowledge of medical herbs, had told him that once. There was a sombre poetry in the graveyard’s colour choices, Deidara thought.

“So, what are you guys spending your $100 on?” Hidan’s gleeful voice was heard over the call.

 **MONEYLUVER69:** A mask for you if you don’t be quiet.

 **ARTLUVER69:** i cant believe we’re using a skype call for this stakeout LOL.

 **MONEYLUVER69:** Walkie-talkies are expensive, and so is having a long phone call with 10 people in it.

 **ORIGAMILUVER69:**...I see that we all forgot to change our names after Naruto got into Pein’s admin account.

 **RINLUVER69:** haha so whats my name???

 **RINLUVER69:** OMFG HOW DO I CHANGE MY NAME

 **PIERCINGSLUVER69:** 10 minutes until they arrive, so please refrain from typing here unless it is necessary. We must stay focused. Hidan and Kisame, are you in position?

 **BLOODLUVER69** : yup just hidin by this entrance til ya give the signal leader boi

 **SWORDLUVER69** : Hehehe, I’m hidden too.

 **PIERCINGSLUVER69:** Do we have eyes on the entrance?

 **ARTLUVER69:** only takin my eyes off em to type here yeah

 **PIERCINGSLUVER69:** And are we in position with the cameras?

 **MONEYLUVER69:** Yes.

 **ORIGAMILUVER69:** Yes.

 **RINLUVER69:** YEAH BUT I DON’T WANNA TYPE WITH THIS NAME AGAIN AAAAAAAAAAA

 **PUPPETLUVER69:** Oh, I’m ready to get some dirt on Orochimaru.

 **PUPPETLUVER69:** Wait. Why aren’t I Art Lover too?

 **ARTLUVER69:** LMAO im the one true art lover huh sasori x

 **PUPPETLUVER69:** No.

 **PLANTLUVER69:** I’m also ready.

 **ARTLUVER69:** I SEE THEIR VAN THEYRE COMING

 **PIERCINGSLUVER69:** Alright Akatsuki, let’s go.

From his seat high up in the old oak tree, Deidara scanned the graveyard with his pair of binoculars. His eyes darted towards the stakeout positions, and noticed that the camera lenses hidden in the bushes were illuminated by the moonlight, providing the signal that the five stationed to capture any evidence were ready. He then turned his sights onto the van, the inconspicuous grey vehicle was stationed at the entrance, and Deidara watched its occupants slowly leave. Orochimaru was first, smirking as he glanced over the graveyard. Did that man ever stop smirking? It was unnerving, Deidara mused. Next was another grinning white-haired teen, with a shovel in tow, followed by a calm, yet strong-looking redhead and finally… aha. The man of the hour, Deidara thought as he chuckled to himself.

“You’re chuckling. Seen something?” Pein asked over the call.

“Yeah, yeah.” Deidara softly replied, his eyes not leaving Sasuke Uchiha as the man in question followed his partners into the graveyard. “The prat’s there alright, and they’re all walking into the graveyard now. Looks like the van is empty.”

“That is my brother you’re talking about.” Itachi cut in.

“He is a right prat for going along with this, yeah.”

“Hidan, Kisame, you’re up. Do not let them escape until we have the evidence.” Pein stressed.

Deidara watched the guards as they stationed themselves outside of the entrance, both looking very happy at the opportunity to… show off their muscles. Seriously?

 **ARTLUVER69:** oh god hidan youre actually not flexin yeah

Remembering the task in hand, Deidara’s attention quickly turned to the group slowly making their way through the graveyard. He held his breath as they unknowingly walked past the bushes, failing to notice the gleam of the lenses against the bright moonlight. Orochimaru stalked through the grounds, and he sometimes stopped to examine a grave, carefully reading the contents of the tombstone before carrying on into the night. After what seemed like an eternity, Orochimaru finally stopped at the base of the oak tree, apparently content with the grave he had found. He nodded, and immediately the unnamed duo began to dig. 

As Itachi had thought, Sasuke did not pick up a shovel. He seemed to be on look-out duty, carefully surveying the graveyard with unwavering focus. Deidara held his breath as the Uchiha’s eyes subtly scanned over every object in his sight. And then his eyes stopped.

The moonlight was both a blessing and a curse as even in the thick fog, the gleam of the camera was too unnatural for its surroundings. Deidara watched as Sasuke tapped Orochimaru’s shoulder and nodded towards the bush, triggering Orochimaru to rapidly realise that he was being watched.

Ah, shit. That was where Sasori was stationed.

“Sasori…” Deidara whispered over the call.

“Yeah, I know.” Was the response from a clearly concentrating Sasori.

Orochimaru seemed to hiss something to his companions digging, and then Sasuke nodded, slowly walking towards Sasori’s hideout.

“Alright, alright.” Sasori slowly stood up to reveal himself to the man before him, leaves falling to the ground as he tilted his head back and smirked. “Look who’s crawled out of the dirt. Isn’t it dear Orochimaru?”

“Sasori… well isn’t this a surprise?” Orochimaru called out from behind Sasuke. “Are you here with your friends again?”

“Perhaps. Let’s see if you can find them.” Sasori teased.

Deidara watched the scene unfold as he began to slowly climb down the tree, keeping himself concealed amongst the midst of the leaves. He watched as Sasori undertook a defensive position as Sasuke slowly stalked towards him, keeping a firm grip on the all-important camera in his right hand as he taunted the advancing Uchiha. Deidara then glanced towards Orochimaru, who had not moved, and wondered how the man looked so confident despite realising that he was greatly outnumbered.

And then Deidara gasped in understanding as his eyes darted towards the half-dug, but now void of any diggers, grave where the gang had stationed themselves.

Fuck.

“Hey, Sasori, behind you!” Deidara whispered urgently.

Sasori swerved on his left foot as the two diggers leapt out from tombstones behind him, their shovels swinging down, and the sound of metal hitting bone rang throughout the graveyard as he used his left arm to block the blow. In a swift movement, he spun on his foot again, using the momentum to throw the camera towards the oak tree. 

“A foolish action!” Orochimaru yelled as he ran after the camera, and then abruptly stopped, his eyes widening in awe as he realised that it had already been caught.

“That was a pretty good throw, yeah.” Deidara was hanging upside down, his legs firmly holding onto a branch and the camera secure in his hand.

“I know.” Sasori had used the moment of the gang’s focus on the camera to escape, and was now darting through the graveyard, rounding up the remaining members of the Akatsuki as he did so. “We’re getting out of here, Akatsuki. Leader, start that van.”

“But now you’re stuck in that tree.” Orochimaru had quickly recovered, and was now staring at the smug blonde in front of him.

“I’m a really good climber, you know.” Deidara folded his arms as purposefully swayed on the branch. “It’s like heights were made for me. Maybe I soared throughout the air in another life. Anyway, see ya!” With that, Deidara disappeared into the leaves, and began to use the low-laying branches to his advantage as he jumped from tree to tree.

“I’ve driven Hidan’s van to the entrance. Be quick, Deidara.” Pein’s voice could be heard from the pocket of Deidara’s jeans.

“Do me a favour and open the hatch on top for me, yeah!” Deidara laughed as he leapt, adrenaline kicking in as he made his escape, and his eyes opened in elation as he felt the summer breeze on his face. The rough branches rubbed at the skin on Deidara’s palms, and his arms ached, but that was all part of the fun. The world rushed past him as he skilfully darted between the trees, and as he ducked and weaved and somehow avoided being scratched, Deidara decided that he could live in that moment forever. He felt in control, and he felt free. Nothing tied him down anymore. The anxiety that came with being an artist, the unease of finding yourself in this ever-evolving world, and his new feelings for Sasori that he couldn’t quite name, were swept away by the cool night and the feelings of freedom.

“The hatch? What are you going to do? We’re all sat here you kn-“

Deidara jumped into the hatch and fell ungracefully into the back component of the van. The rest of the Akatsuki stared in shock at the space by their feet, which was now being occupied by a dirty Deidara, who was spread eagle and lying on his back, holding the camera in the air with an extended arm, and somehow still howling with laughter.

“That was the greatest ever!”

“Was that Deidara?” Itachi’s questioned from the passenger seat.

Pein muttered a complaint in response and began driving.

“Deidara, what the hell?! That was brilliant!” Hidan extended his palm for a high-five, and Deidara slapped it as hard as he could.

Deidara turned his head to face Sasori and threw the camera into his lap. “Here’s that evidence we worked for, yeah!”

Sasori shook his head as he picked up the camera and began watching the recording. “You astound me every single time. You’re gonna get a huge bruise on your back.”

“Says you! The bruise must already be forming on your arm!”

Sasori smirked. “I didn’t even feel the pain.”

Deidara gaped at Sasori, before looking bursting into laughter once again. “I don’t want to ever get on your bad side!”

“The Akatsuki never turn on each other.” Sasori said with confidence as the van drove into the misty night.


	3. Amber Anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bandits: now with more angst and more sasodei!  
> and please don't underage drink. or drive. deidara and hidan aren't the best role models...

Sasori found himself becoming slowly more irritated as he walked to school. His injured arm - which was now in a sling - was somewhat covered by his Akatsuki jacket, however the heatwave made the leather-covered arm uncomfortably hot. Sasori looked down at the sling which adorned his wounded arm. Upon looking twice he noticed not only the dicks which Hidan had drawn, but the ad for Deidara’s sculpture-selling website that his junior had written. And circled with even more dicks. Yeah, he was keeping it hidden.

Not to mention his phone had been constantly buzzing - probably Hidan spamming the Akatsuki group chat with memes again - but he found his phone hard to check one-handed. Sasori sighed and looked up, only to notice a group of students quickly turn their heads away from him and start whispering. Throughout his journey, he had noticed others subtly pointing at him, one even took a picture, and for whatever reason Naruto flashed him a shit-eating grin.

Sasori was perplexed.

He fumbled and pulled out his phone, hoping to send a message reading *why does everyone stare at me when I hang out with people who have blue hair, about 20 facial piercings and tattoos of mouths* to the Akatsuki chat, when he noticed a message from Deidara.

"My man, I think you're famous."  
 

\---

 

Deidara had always wondered if Sasori’s art would become viral: as a fellow artist he would wonder if his friend’s art would ever be acknowledged. Maybe it would be beyond their lifetimes, but he knew that if his art was truly eternal then, someone, somewhere, would resonate with Sasori’s creation, thus throwing Sasori into stardom.

Simply put, Deidara had always assumed that Sasori would become famous due to his art. Not due to a video of him masterfully blocking a twin shovel attack.

And it had become the talk of the school.

“Well, of course you were going to get a sling if you did something as reckless as that…” It was lunch break, and Sakura was stood in front of the Akatsuki clubroom’s table, arms folded.

“I can replace the sling if you’re not happy with the… male genitalia drawn all over it?” Her friend - the girl Deidara was pretty damn sure Tobi had a crush on - offered.

“You are both aware that I blocked those shovels entirely because I wanted to, whilst being fully aware that I would injure myself, and so I don’t need your sympathy?” Sasori continued to sketch with his free hand as he spoke.

“You got that injury from helping me, of course I’m gonna care!” Sakura crossed her arms and pouted.

“I got this injury because your crush was so eager to surpass his elder brother that he got tutoring from a criminal.”

Ouch. There was Sasori’s famously harsh tongue. Before Sakura could protest, Sasori turned his attention to Deidara.

“Brat, any luck?”

“Well…” Deidara was sat opposite from Sasori, engrossed in his laptop. “The Youtube account it was uploaded to is weird, yeah.”

Sasori looked up. “In what sense?”

Deidara turned his laptop so the trio could see. “Look, this account is clearly run by some child obsessed with pranks, yeah?” He reiterated this by scrolling through pages of harmless tricks as he spoke. “But the data is encrypted so I’ve got no way of tracing this back to the perpetrator, which is really strange. The rest of the channel isn’t sophisticated at all, it really comes across as a kid just messing around, so why is the data encrypted, yeah?”

“So they could get away with ruining my chances of being a doctor.”

“But…I see no reason why they’ve hacked us and uploaded the video… it’s not tagged with Sasori’s name, or even the school’s name. So I don’t think it was an attempt to make Sasori look bad, and I don’t think user isn’t trying to promote their channel with it. And why’s only Sasori in it?” I don’t get it at all!” With his last sentence he threw back his head and sighed. “I’m tired of watching a masked kid doodling on monuments! It’s barely even art, yeah!”

“I had no idea you’re this good with computers, Deidara.” Sakura sent Deidara a sympathetic smile.

“I just like to mess around with machines and stuff, yeah. Wait. What are you two doing here?”

“Oh, I wanted to thank you all for your help and see if Sasori was okay, and Rin wanted to tag along to see Obito!”

“He’s gone out to fetch us cookies!” Rin beamed.

“I want one of those cookies because I can’t lean back on any chairs anymore.” Deidara groaned.

Sasori changed the conversation back to its original topic. "But this prankster is lives nearby?"

"They must do, look, all of these pranks take place within our town!" Sakura pointed out, "Some of them within our school!"

"So he's a student." Sasori speculated.

Deidara closed the lid on his laptop. "But, my man, that's all I've got." He shook his head. "They're just too good at covering their tracks, yeah."

“Hm. We need to get that taken down before any colleges see it. Who enrolls someone who messes around in a graveyard in the middle of the night?” He muttered the last sentence to himself as looked down again at his sketches.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll figure out something!”

“Hm.”

Sasori stayed silent as he absentmindedly added detail to his sketches, and Deidara frowned as he watched his friend draw. The white grip on his pencil was unmistakable: the situation bothered Sasori. And how could it not? For an aspiring doctor, a viral video of this calibre could become an impenetrable fortress, or an unscalable mountain, leaving Sasori stranded hopelessly in its shadow, craning his neck in a futile attempt to see the summit.  And although his love for art was apparent, Sasori’s desire to enter medical school was so strong that he had decided to keep art in the side-lines as a hobby. Between studying and his hobby, did he ever have time to be a normal teenager? Did he ever give himself time to think? Or did he ever give his brain a break? In fact, when was the last time Sasori didn’t spend a lunch break crouched over his sketch book, breathing life into his thoughts?  

Just how much pent up stress, trauma, anxiety, was in that sketch of Sasori's?

How much stress was hidden in that body that he wished was hollow?

Deidara had to act.

“I just remembered something!” Deidara said as he stood up quickly, startling the others. “Sasori, Leader asked me to scope out the music room, see if we can borrow it for band practice. Think we gotta ask the Sound Five though. Wanna come with me?”  
  
Sasori placed his pencil on the table and rolled his good shoulder. “Sure. I want to glare in the faces of anyone who looks at me funny.”

Deidara gave Sasori a hearty pat on the shoulder as he walked towards the clubroom’s door, and Sasori shot him a quick nod in return.

Probably a thank you, Deidara thought.

“If we find Tobi, we’ll send him your way.” Deidara gave a lazy wave to the two girls before leaving the clubroom.

They didn’t need the music room, and Pein hadn’t mentioned it at all, but it was the first excuse that Deidara had come up with. Anything to stop Sasori agonising over his future.

They entered the school’s hallway which was bustling with students, making use of the space to talk to friends and eat their lunch. As soon as the duo walked out, did they receive stares and pointed fingers, but Deidara brushed it off. Knowing his name was one step closer to knowing his art. Deidara shut the clubroom’s door behind him, and then he heard Sasori sigh with annoyance. He turned to see one of his fellow students looking at them expectantly.

“Waiting for us.” Sasori muttered.

The student in question took a step forward and spoke.

 “Hey, Deidara! My name's Kurotsuchi, I'm a third year and leader of the Gymnastics Club. I saw your club’s website. We need your talent!

“Gymnastics? I'm honoured, but I only wanna get scouted for art exhibitions, yeah.” Deidara waved his hand in dismissal. Apparently Kakuzu had taken the viral video opportunity to create a website selling the Akatsuki as heroes for hire, with the video as proof of what they were capable of.

She scoffed. “Not as part of the team. We want you to film our club’s promotional video tonight. We wanna take the most unusual shots that represent what we do, and I heard you took the shovel video! How’d you do it? The shots were amazing!”

“I was just climbed up a tree and hung on with my legs.”

“Oh, you’re pretty good for an amateur. The fact you can climb up trees and record perfect shots is, well, perfect!”

"But it's not art, yeah." 

"We'll pay you."

 

“Deal!”

“Great!” Kurotsuchi grinned. “I’ll add you on Facebook and send you the details. Oh, and sorry to hear about your arm redhead. That was pretty badass though! Later!”

Sasori opened his mouth – presumably to comment that he had a name – but she was already gone, walking off with a spring in her step. Deidara elbowed Sasori’s side.

“Looks like I’m getting popular, yeah!”

“I can’t believe the video which only I’m in is making you popular. How did she know you shot it?”

“Either she guessed because we're together constantly or Kakuzu is telling everyone what we did."

"Oh, probably the latter. I heard he's using the video to sell the Akatsuki as heroes for hire."

"Damn,I can’t believe it’s working! Gonna ask Hidan to drive me and see if he'll get paid too.”

Sasori grimaced. "Hidan isn't old enough to drive."

“Doesn't stop him. Come on, let’s go find this Sound Five. I bet they’re in the music room.”

 

\---

 

 “So, you want to borrow our music room to practice your little performance?” Sakon asked menacingly, with his brother and the rest of his gang stood behind him, smirking.

“Yeah, we’re putting on a performance for the school festival.” Deidara replied.

“Oh, and why should we give you our musical hall to let you perform?”

Deidara inwardly groaned. These weirdos were the type to start a fight over anything.

“It’s not yours, it is owned by the school. Just agree to it already.” Sasori said. He really didn’t know how to be diplomatic, did he? “I would like to start tutoring Deidara today.”

Wait, what?

“Well we’re not going to hand it over easily, you fucking weirdo!” The girl of their group shouted from behind Sakon. “You need to prove yourself or we’re not handing over shit, you shovel loving freak! Only the best musicians get to use our hall!”

“That's a nasty vocabulary. Do you think she’s related to Hidan?” Deidara whispered to Sasori, causing the latter to roll his eyes and smile.

“So, how do we prove ourselves?” Sasori asked.

“We’ll host a battle of the bands!” Sakon proudly proclaimed. “We’ll host it here in a weeks’ time! Your Akatsuki vs us Sound Five! We’ll get some students to be the judges and whoever wins get to use the hall!”

Sasori and Deidara looked at each other. Yeah, these weirdos clearly just wanted to show off their musical talents to the rest of the school.

“No.”

"What do you mean no?! Where's your sense of fun!"

"I don't know, you go find it for us." Deidara said.

Sakon blinked. “You think you have a choice?! Then you don’t get the music room!”

Sasori raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh? That’s interesting. ‘Cos firstly, you don’t own the music room, and secondly, I’ve got some really interesting videos of you guys doing lines of horse tranquilisers in here, and I think it would be fun to see what would happen if I burned those videos onto a DVD and placed it on Tsunade’s desk.”

The Sound Five stood with their mouths agape, and Deidara grinned with pride. Never mess with the master of blackmail, especially when he was having a bad day.

“H-How did you get those fucking videos you creep?!” The girl shouted.

“Oh, but that’s giving it away.” Sasori was smiling with amusement. “I suggest you all leave now. Go on. I’m waiting, and I hate to wait.”

Sakon turned to face the rest of his group, who were looking back at him, their faces a mixture of fear and frustration. After exchanging a few words, spoken in a whisper so the artists couldn’t hear, before nodding in agreement.

“Fine. Don’t think this is the last you’ll hear from us.” He spat, and then he spun on his heel and began walking towards the exit, his friends grudgingly following him.  

Must’ve been a shock, Deidara mused. It’s not every day some stranger blackmails you with your biggest secret, but Sasori was always one step ahead, somehow gathering information from every corner of the school and saving it for future use. It was a skill the Akatsuki both admired and desired.

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, yeah?” Deidara waved at the quintet as they exited the room.

“Hey, Deidara.” Sasori turned to face his junior.

“Yes, my man?”

“We don’t need the music room to practice in, do we? We could just use my house.”

“I thought some good old-fashioned blackmail would cheer you up, yeah.”

“You’re a good friend.”

“I know.”

“Right, I’m going to go fetch that bass guitar from my locker. You can make sure this room is adequate for use. I’m pretty sure those idiots wouldn’t look after a room.” With that, Sasori also turned around and swiftly exited the room, leaving Deidara stood alone. He had no idea what Sasori meant by tutoring, this was the first time he had even mentioned it and they certainly hadn’t agreed to anything, but Deidara wasn’t going to complain.

His heart was already racing at the idea of spending the rest of lunch alone with his fellow artist.

Why was he so excited to spend time with him? They had known each other for months, and so spending time together wasn’t new, but Sasori stirred his heart, with newfound feelings of fondness and longing blossoming in his chest. Deidara gripped his shirt. The butterflies just wouldn’t stop lately. Maybe he should go to a doctor. But the way his heart ached when he stared at Sasori’s eyes…

Putting that thought to one side, Deidara figured he should get to work – he didn’t want to make an already annoyed Sasori wait for him to finishing tidying – and so he surveyed his surroundings. The room the Sound Five had so proudly protected was desolate, there was nothing to indicate the room was used for music, bar the small stage that stood at the back of the room. Dust covered the corners of the floorboards, and as his eyes scanned the room, he noticed a floorboard by the stage was loose, and had been lazily thrown into the hole that its absence had created. He promptly walked over to it, sat on his knees next to it, and pulled out the floorboard with ease, discovering a stash of needles and burnt spoons. Gross. Disgusted but not shocked, Deidara placed the floorboard back neatly, deciding on informing Leader about his discovery later.

The rest of the room seemed somewhat acceptable, and so Deidara took a running jump and hopped onto the stage, finding pleasure in soaring through the air and the fleeting beauty of feeling weightless. And then the moment was over, and then he felt giddy, because of course, beautiful moments were destined to become beautiful memories. Even if it was the simple act of leaping, he felt immense elation, as he was determined to enjoy every second of his school days.

And then maybe his heartache would disappear.

Deidara landed steadily and inspected the stage, for which there was little to inspect as the stage was identical to the rest of the room. The only difference was no obvious drug dens this time. And he didn't feel like undertaking an Easter egg hunt for drug dens. Finding nothing he could fix within the next few minutes – the room needed hours of scrubbing – and so decided on sitting on the edge of the stage, his legs swinging as he browsed through his phone.

 **BLOODLUVER69:** do you guys think orochimaru is an incel

 **BLOODLUVER69:** im gonna fuckin rank these motherfucker teachers as incels

 **BLOODLUVER69:** orochimaru 10/10, leaders dad 10/10, iruka 10/10

Deidara sniggered and typed out his response.

 **ARTLUVER69:** lmao dude yeah def

 **BLOODLUVER69:** fuckin knew it

 **BLOODLUVER69:** arty shitebag im bored

 **ARTLUVER69:** lol why but same im waitin for sasori :/

 **BLOODLUVER69:** in tsunades office shes making me fuckin wait

 **ARTLUVER69:** LOL what youd do to get sent there

 **BLOODLUVER69:** teacher went for a piss so i put jashin promo vids on the projector and she fuckin sent here me like i did something wrong the fuck

Deidara laughed and was about to reply to Hidan, but the sound of footsteps filled the room, and he looked up to see Sasori walking towards him, clutching a bass guitar.

“Room all good?” He said as he reached the stage. He placed the guitar on Deidara’s lap and then sat next to him.

“I only found one stash of used drugs, yeah!” Deidara replied.

Sasori let out a low whistle. “Thought there’d be at least ten.”

“Maybe there are more, fuck looking for it. So,” Deidara looked down at the guitar sitting on his lap. “What’s this for?”

“I’m going to teach you how to play the song we’re performing.”

Deidara knitted his brow in confusion and frowned. “Where’s come from, yeah?”

“I can’t play the bass guitar anymore. It’s not going to heal in time.” Sasori used his head to gesture to his arm in a sling. “I’m not having our performance ruined because I went and broke my arm. If you do art, you do it properly.” Sasori repeated his words from a few days before.

“Why me? You could teach any of the others.”

“As if I could ask any of the others without them wanting something in return. Besides, even though you can’t sculpt or make art for shit, you are pretty good with your hands.”

“That sounds like an excuse, you just wanna hang with your bestie!” Deidara teased, causing Sasori to scowl.

“Shut up and pass me the body of the guitar. The big part. Leave the neck on your side and hold it steady.”

Deidara did as he was told, sitting close to Sasori so they could share the guitar, and Sasori used his free hand to position the instrument on his lap.

“Obviously, I can’t do much with one hand, however…” He ran his hand over the strings, and began to pluck them, his expertise causing a melody to flow in the air.

Deidara’s turned to face his senior, his eyes shining with awe. “That was so cool, yeah!”

“Knew you’d like it. Right, so your first lesson is-“ Sasori turned to face Deidara, and then froze. Their faces were only inches apart. Deidara could feel Sasori’s breath on his skin, his own stuck in his throat.

Sasori’s skin looked so smooth, as if it was a doll’s, and his lips looked so... inviting and warm.

“Is…” Sasori trailed off as his eyes travelled towards Deidara’s lips.

The lunch bell rang, the shrill sound breaking the atmosphere in the room. Sasori immediately jumped off the stage and coughed into his hand.

“We should practice after your filming this evening. I’ll text you.”

Deidara stared as Sasori’s back as he walked out.

What… was that?

 

\---

 

“You assbags! Move!” Hidan screamed as he honked the horn of his van.

Deidara leant his head out of the passenger window. “Dude, this jam goes for miles! We’re gonna be stuck here for hours if it stays like this.”

“Well, might as well get fucking comfy!” Hidan pressed the play button on the vehicle’s CD player, “This is my mixtape, basically it’s 10 screamo songs, then one Bohemian Rhapsody, then another 15 screamo songs. Can’t have a singalong without Bo Rap!”

“Oh hell yeah!” Deidara lifted his hand up for a high-five, and was rewarded with Hidan slamming his palm with as much force as he could muster. “You bastard, not that hard!”

Hidan cackled. “Don’t be a pussy, Money!”

“Money? What?”

“You know, that French fucker who did boring paintings.”

“Monet. You mean Monet.”

“Whatever.” Hidan replied, reaching into the glove compartment. “I’m gonna play a game if we’ll be bored shitless for a while.” He pulled out a 3DS and turned it on.

“This is gonna be unbearable, it’s way too hot.” Deidara said as he fanned himself with his hands. “Wanna get some booze on the way home?”

“I love it when you speak my language.”

Deidara beamed. “Also, can I borrow your phone? Sasori’s waiting for me but my phone’s outta charge, yeah.”

His heart jumped in his chest as he thought about what had happened during lunch.

“Hah, well mine’s dead cos I smashed it out of boredom, so Shovel’s gonna have to wait. You’re gonna get a bollocking!”

It had been only two days and already everyone was calling him that, huh.

“What are you playing on that?” Deidara asked.

“It’s Animal Crossing.” Hidan said.

Deidara’s eye twitched. “There is no way you’re playing Animal Crossing.”

Hidan turned his console to show Deidara. Upon inspection it was indeed Animal Crossing… except the entire ground was covered in Jashin symbols. Deidara shuddered.

“Any particular reason why you’re recreating Hell?”

“It’s not Hell, you shit-eating bastard! It’s the Jashin paradise that one day I want the world to be!”

He decided not to mention it again.

 

\---

 

 

Sasori sighed heavily with annoyance as he paced around the Akatsuki’s clubroom. They were late. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checked the time, and then groaned with frustration. They were hours late. In fact, the sun had already begun to set, with hues of orange and red seeping into the room, illuminating the furniture that Sasori had been stepping around for what seemed an age.

He hated to wait.

There were so many more important things he could be doing, than standing in his school, staring at the sunset. He had puppets to design, ideas to sketch, medical books to read, instead of wandering aimlessly around the oak table and checking his phone constantly. But no, he had to be stood in an empty room, all because of his idea of teaching Deidara.

Sasori turned on his heel to glare at the guitar, which he had placed in the corner of the room. He wanted to blame the instrument, to stare down upon it and state that it was somehow the guitar’s fault, that if it wasn’t for band practice then he wouldn’t be here. But that was a lie and Sasori knew it. He knew that he didn’t need to teach Deidara guitar; Sasori knew he could ask around the school and find a replacement guitarist with ease. He shook his head. He had just wanted to spend more time with Deidara.

You know, the guy you see every single day anyway? Come on Sasori, he berated himself, you know it’s your fault you’re stood here.

He bit his lip in frustration. Why did he even have to participate in band practice? He didn’t have time for this. He had to study, to train, to become a doctor and ensure nobody went through what he did, make sure nobody was orphaned, and… and getting anxious wasn’t going to solve anything. Calm down, Sasori. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a shaky sigh. It’s just the waiting. Nothing’s wrong.

Not like last time.

He exhaled heavily and checked his phone again. There was still no response from Deidara. Perhaps he had already gone home, assuming Sasori wouldn’t wait so long, especially considering the time of day, or the length of time that he had been waiting. Now that he thought about it, any other person in this situation would’ve left for home hours ago, who would choose waiting around in a barren room over going home for the evening?

But he wasn’t going to leave them behind. He knew too well how that felt.

Sasori frowned at his phone. It was beyond unusual for Deidara to blank him like this, hell, he couldn’t remember the last time Deidara didn’t reply to one of his messages: his junior used his inbox like a personal blog. Staring at the “where are you” message he had sent an hour ago, anxiety began to rise and his mind began to race. What if something had happened to them? What if… Hidan had fallen ill at the wheel? Or their brakes had failed? Or another car had rammed into their van?

They weren’t coming back. Oh God, they weren’t coming back.

He slid down the wall he was leaning against - when did he lean against it? - and fell into a slump on the floor. He pulled his legs to his chest, and his shaking hands fumbled towards his knees as he hugged his legs tight. They were gone. They were gone. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, they weren’t coming back, they were gone and… why did breathing hurt so much? His throat burned as if it was alight, his breathing had become rapid and shallow and his chest, why was it on fire? Why was he on fire? Deidara and Hidan were dead and now he was next? Was this what had happened to them? Why were they gone? What had happened to them?

“Sasori? Sasori!” A voice was calling out to him. “Oh my God, Sasori, Sasori my man are you okay?”

Deidara was knelt in-front of him, his blue eyes filled with fear, and was desperately calling out to Sasori in confusion.

“Oh God, my man, my man you need to stop breathing so fast, yeah!” Deidara racked his brains for anything that could help, anything that could save Sasori. But he couldn’t hear Deidara over his hyperventilating, and the overwhelming panic dominated his senses, making it impossible for him to focus on Deidara’s voice.

After seeing those brown eyes glazed over, Deidara knew simply calling out would achieve little.

“Shit!” Deidara cursed to himself as he stood up, his hands in his hair, and looked around for anything that could help. Noticing the backpack he had dropped in the doorway in shock, he leapt for it, and fished around until he found a water bottle. The bottle held in a tight grip as if it was an invaluable treasure, he then ran back to Sasori and dropped to his knees again.

“Water! Water my man, this’ll help!”  

Sasori didn’t respond, his chest constricting in pain, and his thoughts telling him tales of the lonely future he was certain to have.

A warm palm touched his tear stained cheek, causing Sasori to look up, and he was met by eyes as blue as the summer sky.

Deidara.

“Have some water, I’m sure it’ll help.” Deidara said in a soft voice, placing the water bottle on Sasori’s knees. With a shaking hand Sasori picked it up, fumbling with the lid as he struggled to open it, but once he had he titled his head back and poured the liquid over his face, finding comfort in the coolness calming his burning skin.

Deidara sighed with relief. “I meant to drink it, but that works too, yeah.”

“You’re… alive.” Sasori stated in shock. How was that possible? When he waited, that meant people were dead, so how did he survive?

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Deidara cocked his head to the side. “I know Hidan isn’t a good driver, but he’s not that bad.”

“But I had to wait.” Although he had calmed down, Sasori was still breathing quickly, and his body felt so weak, as if he had experienced a heart attack, “I had to wait, and waiting means nobo-“ Anxiety arose again, crushing his ability to speak.

“Hey, hey, look at me.” Deidara wiped a tear off Sasori’s face with his thumb. “I’m here, I’m safe, I’m in one piece. Nothing’s wrong. I really should get your mind off whatever’s making you panic… uh….” Deidara paused as he thought. “Hey, if I stung by a jellyfish, all I need to do is piss on the sting, yeah?”

“No, you… you moron. You… you rinse the sting with seawater and warm water...."

“And creating puppets, it's super easy, yeah?"

“Absolutely not... it takes time, precision, and...” Sasori gulped as he tried to breathe. “... Care."

"Did that take your mind off things?”

“Yeah…” Sasori slowly stretched out his legs and winced – his body had been so tense that everything ached now he was more relaxed – and leant his head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

Fuck. He was extremely embarrassed.

He had shown that side of himself to someone else, the side he had sought to keep hidden, his quiet apprehension that emerged whenever he was reminded of that fateful day.

Deidara placed a hand on Sasori’s shoulder, throwing him out of his thoughts. At some point he had moved to sit next to him. “How’re you feeling?”

Sasori nodded. “Not bad.”

That was a lie. Everything hurt.

“That’s good. I’m really glad.”

For a few moments the room was filled with an uncomfortable silence, as both men gathered their thoughts.

“You don’t have to talk about it but…” Deidara trailed off. Of course, he wasn’t sure what to say. The whole situation must be an entire shock, Sasori thought. “The Akatsuki are here for you. I’m here for you.” With that last sentence he turned to stare deep into Sasori’s eyes, hoping the action would show just how serious he was.

“I’ll talk about it.” Sasori said. He didn’t want to create needless worry for his junior. Besides, he wasn’t getting any better by keeping it to himself. Perhaps it was time to share his worries with his friends.

“If you’re sure, you don’t owe me an explanation, yeah.”

“If I leave you to speculate you’re just going to worry. Besides, you’re curious, aren’t you?”

Deidara looked sheepish. “How could I not be? It’s not every day I run into you having a panic attack.”

That was right. He had been having a panic attack and he hadn’t realized. Of course, he had read about the symptoms when studying, and had experienced them before, but his overpowering panic meant he couldn’t comprehend what was happening to him.

“It’s because they never came back.”

“What… do you mean?”

“You know my parents died two years ago?”

Deidara nodded.

“They were away for a business trip. They had a car accident, but were miles away from anyone who could help, and the ambulance didn’t… My Grandma didn’t have the heart to tell me they were dead, and so she told me to keep waiting, whenever I asked about them she said to keep waiting. But they never came back. Of course, they never came back. So now I associate waiting with… death. And now I want to be a doctor, so there’s one more in the world, so hopefully there’s one less orphaned child, left alone in the world.”                   

The sadness Deidara felt from Sasori’s account was apparent, his eyes downcast and without shine, and so distant. It was a rare moment of a lack of excitement or shine in those steel blue eyes.

“I’m so sorry… we got stuck in traffic on the way back from filming, and my phone is out of battery. If I had known, I would’ve ran to see you!” Deidara asserted, guilt rising as he thought about how happy he was in that car singing with Hidan, and how he stopped at the shop for booze.

“I should’ve mentioned it. And the video shit just added to the problem.” The last thing he wanted was for Deidara to feel guilty on top of worry.

“I won’t make you wait again, yeah. I promise!” Deidara gave his senior a thumbs up. “Now you mentioned the video, I was thinking about you earlier.”

Sasori didn’t respond, speaking so much after struggling to breathe had exhausted him, and instead concentrated on trying to calm his still shaking body down.

“When I got you to leave the clubroom to distract you, yeah. I think you need to have more fun.”

Sasori scoffed. “You’re not going to tell me to blow something up, are you?”

“Nah, but when was the last time you acted like a teenager and not an old man, yeah?”

“I do not act like an old man.”

“You do!” Deidara protested, throwing his hands up in the air. “It’s all work and no play for you, yeah! You strive for perfection too much! For example, you’re teaching me an instrument for one performance! If you don’t let yourself relax, you’ll just feel more worry. You gotta chill out! When was the last time you let yourself do normal teenager things?”

Deidara was right. He spent every waking moment engulfing himself in work, leaving no time to relax. But after his parents’ death that had become the norm, to spend hours crouched over a book or a sketchpad, hoping that it would distract him from the hole in his heart.

“When was the last time you got drunk on a school night? Or spent all day marathoning Netflix? Or sent memes to your friends instead of studying? Or blasted your favourite album out loud at 3am? Or slept in class? These are all normal teenage things to do, yeah!” Deidara stated.

“I haven’t done any of those things in a while.” Sasori replied. “Admittedly, the Orochimaru graverobbing fiasco was the most fun I’ve had in years.”

“Right, I’m giving you my Netflix login, which is Kakuzu’s Netflix which I got off Hidan. He hasn’t mentioned that we’re using it, even though Hidan made a profile on there called Wankstain. You need to learn the art of marathoning an entire show in one day!” Deidara took his phone out of his pocked and begun typing, and then his eyes widened in realization. “I have the perfect thing for you, my man!”

“He’s probably so tired of Hidan’s antics that he can’t be bothered anymore.” Sasori said as he watched Deidara jump up and grab his backpack, that was still in the doorway, and sling it over his shoulder. He then walked over to the back wall’s cupboard, reaching to the top shelf with ease and pulling out Itachi’s Japanese-style tea set. He carried the tea set over to Sasori with one hand, something that expensive definitely warranted two hands but Deidara clearly didn’t care, and placed it by his feet. He then also placed the backpack on the ground – but with much more care this time – and knelt by it, pulling out milk, coffee liquor and ice cubes.

“How have these ice cubes not melted?” Deidara asked himself as he took them out.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making my version of a White Russian for you, my man.”

Sasori stared at him incredulously. “You’re giving me alcohol after I’ve had a panic attack? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“That’s the idea! Time to be a silly teenager with dumb ideas.” Deidara poured the ingredients into the mugs and then stirred them with his index finger.

“Itachi really isn’t going to appreciate you using a fancy tea set for alcohol.”

“Then don’t leave a drop.” Deidara was grinning as he passed Sasori a mug. “He’d get drunk off just that.”

Sasori, despite his complaints, took a sip of the concoction. “This tastes just like a Starbucks drink.”

“A Starbucks drink that can get you fucked! This is how I spent my hard earned money.”

“Why am I not surprised.” Sasori rolled his eyes, and then leant his head back and drank all his drink in one big gulp. “Not a drop.” He said smugly as he put the mug back on the tray.

“See, that’s what’s good about this, you can get drunk sooooo easily because it’s just sugary milk!” Deidara followed suit and then poured two more mugs. “To Sasori having a bit more fun, yeah!”

The duo raised their mugs, a toast to not only making Sasori’s parents proud, but to a future with a little more fun in it.

 


End file.
